Monday, February 4, 2013

Body After Baby -- Post 2

It's been a month since my first post, so it's time to update my progress...
I will start off with showing the pictures, then post my measurements.

                    Jan. 4, 2013                                                  Feb. 4, 2013







 





Measurements

                                                       January                                             February
Bust                                                 40"                                                      38"
High Waist                                      37"                                                      33"
Belly                                                39"                                                      37"
Thigh                                               22.5"                                                   21"
Arm                                                 12"                                                       11"
Hips                                                 41"                                                      39.5" 
                   
                    Weight                                         152-ish lbs                                             144.6 lb



I'm glad I took these pictures and measurements.  It's nice to look back and see that I have made progress, even if it's going way slower than I had hoped! 

What I did this month...

1.  Joined a gym!  The gym that my husband and I had been going to for the last year closed right after I had the baby, so I decided to join a new gym.  For the first few weeks, I was trying to exercise at home because I could not find a gym that was a good price, had childcare, and was close to home.  Exercising at home proved to be difficult, though.  By the time I got in my workout clothes, the baby needed to be fed, and I had to change out of the tight workout shirt in order to feed him. And my work outs were interrupted several times to tend to the children, so it was nearly impossible for me to get my heart rate up for more than a few minutes at a time.  Thankfully, I found a gym that is perfect for us.  It is a small family-owned place, which was important to me.  The employees there really care about their clients and are very knowledgeable about diet and exercise.  It also has childcare that accepts kids of all ages.  Many other gyms would only accept babies at least 6 mos old and would not accept school-aged kids during the day.  Since I homeschool my 7 year old, I needed a place that would keep her while I worked out.  

2.  Nutrition was on point!  Mostly meats, veggies, fats, and a little bit of fruit.  I thought this was going to be really hard, but I feel so much better when I eat clean that I don't even want much processed food anymore.  Really the only time I ate junk food was when my husband "cooked" dinner for me one night -- frozen pizza and ice cream.  It was a nice treat and I managed not to over-eat, so I didn't feel horrible afterwards.  

3.  No more fast food!  I can't even remember the last time I had fast food -- over a month, I guess.  We used to stop by Mc D's or Chick-fil-a after my daughter's gymnastics once a week.  The last several weeks, however, I just take the extra time before we leave the house to pack a cooler.  Usually turkey, carrots, cherry tomatoes, and grapes.  Those are my go-to travel foods because you don't need silverware and they don't leave a mess.  

4.  Lots of water.  I have been drinking about a gallon per day for the last 3 years.  It really makes a difference.  During law school, I would get a headache everyday around 3:30.  I thought it was just from doing so much reading and thinking throughout the day.  But when I increased my water intake, the headaches immediately went away.  Yay!  

Thanks for reading!  See you next time!

~Patti